Bra-zil' or Bra-zil'-wood, n.

n. [Pg. braza, a live coal, or glowing fire. This name was given to the wood from its color; and it is said that King Emanuel, of Portugal, gave this name to the country in America on account of its producing this wood. It was first named Santa Cruz, by its discoverer, Pedro Alvares Cabral. Lindley. Cf. BRAZIER.] A very heavy wood, of a red color, growing in Brazil and other tropical countries, and used in manufactures for dyeing red. It is the produce of a papilionaceous plant, of the species Cæsalpinia echinata.